The seed and farming industries often need to transport large quantities of seed. Bulk seed boxes are a convenient and commonly used solution. Bulk seed boxes hold upwards of 2,000 pounds of seed. Seed from a bulk seed box can then be transferred to a truck, seed wagon, seed tender, planter, or other seed storage or transport device.
Bulk seed boxes generally have a discharge gate at the lower end, which must be positioned above the seed-receiving device prior to discharging the contents. The discharge gate needs to remain closed until the bulk seed box is properly positioned. The bulk seed box is commonly raised into position by a forklift. Once the box is in position, the operator needs to climb up the seed storage device or ladder to manually open the discharge door. This results in an inconvenience and danger to the operator. When the discharge gate is opened, seed flows downward out of the box under the force of gravity.
One potential solution to remotely opening a bulk seed box discharge gate is known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 8,137,043 B2, to Beck, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, describes a device with a U-shaped frame with free ends that engage the lower end of a bulk seed box. The free ends have a spreader mechanism that applies a lateral pressure on the box, which relieves tension on the discharge gate and secures the device in place. A screw actuator is attached to the base of the U-frame and a supporting cross-brace. A gate engagement latch is directly attached to the end of the screw actuator. The screw actuator extends along with an angular guide arm to engage the closed discharge door and then contracts to open the door.
The existing solutions for opening the discharge gate of a bulk seed box are either inconvenient and dangerous or overly complicated such that the handheld removable device would be inconvenient to use due to weight and the time and effort required to engage and operate the device.